Summer - Spring Mix

Loving the outfit. Definitely a nice ‘going out to meet at the café’, kind of look.

A bicycle when you need it–Bicycle Rentals

If your city has a bicycle share program you already know where to get a bicycle.

If not, then Bicycle Rentals are perfect way to get mobile for the day. These being the private enterprises they are, expect a fairly good offering of bicycle styles and choices.

I’m starting with some here in San Francisco. I will happily be adding more places as I go along.

San Francisco

Stow Lake Bike & Boat Rentals: 50 Stow Lake Dr. (752-0347)

Golden Gate Park Bike and Skate: 3038 Fulton St. (668-1117)

American Cyclery: 510 Frederick St. and 858 Stanyan St. (664-4545)

Avenue Cyclery: 756 Stanyan St. (387-3155)

Park Cyclery: 1749 Waller St. (221-3777)

Skates on Haight: 1818 Haight St. (752-8375)

Bicycle Chic & Tough Times… Bicycles for CHEAP

I’ve shopped the bike swaps, craigslist to score when my prior bicycle(s) where stolen and coincidently I was super low on funds and couldn’t afford to replace my high ticket bicycle right away.

Perhaps this following scenario has been your experience too. You’re new to bicycling, you walk into your local bicycle shop, get your heart set on a beauty only to discover you have to go into a payment plan to possess her. So while you’re waiting to afford your heart’s desire, or waiting for a delivery from Europe and delivery is x amount of weeks…what to do? Invest into a rusty true love. My rusty true love is a 40’s Japanese Jet Wind I got for $25.00 (craigslist). Just a beautiful backup bicycle for me.

Any women out there who would love to bicycle but suffer zero extra cash problems? Are you a potential chic bicyclist on foot and bussing it (or worse yet, still driving short distances like to the corner store)? Don’t want to buy a used bicycle? No matter how cheap…because you’re thinking bicycle repairs can cost a lot and you just don’t want the headache. Two ways to get help…check for a bicycle program that offers / donates free bicycles. Second option; repair services like Bike Station and Street Level Cycles. Both will teach you how to do your own repairs! Check your own city and see if these type programs are offered where you live. (Let me know and I will list the programs in your city).

College Ave - Afternoon

Sandal Weather is here.

How Far Is It ? Walk Score Tool

Use this Walk Score Tool next time you're want to see how far it is to bicycle to where you want to go. How rideable or walkable is your neighborhood? This makes a big difference. You may be surprised just how many places are under a mile to bicycle and get yourself to.

Janet Bicycle Girl - Toronto Events

I just received this: Fashionable goings on in Toronto…. Janet has a whole calendar of events including CineCycle Movie Nights, Vintage Bicycle Photography Exhibits and her own Open Studios featuring her Bicycle themed art work.

Nice Valet @ Earth Day

She was retrieving her Bicycle from Valet Service @ Earth Day, a service provided by BFBC. She offered me some of her fair trade organic chocolate and then she was off.

The Art of Bicycling…Art Rides!

There are some great Art Rides to go out and enjoy. Join what’s called a ‘crawl’, only on this one you ride your bicycle going from one art gallery to the next. Have fun, let your self be all chic and ‘arty’ when picking out what to wear for the evening. I’ve seen some amazing ‘looks’ that people have sported for these (usually) monthly occasions. Plus… less I forget to mention it, imagine the intriguing art you may well find your self discovering. I also included music rides as well.

Art

Art Murmur-Oakland

Spoke(n) Art-LA

WichitaArt Ride –ArtoftheBicycle

DowntownArtRide-LA

Music

Cycle Punk –Manahattan (1 time event-- New York's Bike Punk band night of punk bands celebrating the opening weekend of Bike Month NYC.)

Rock 'n Roll 'n Ride-LA ( explore the many musical roots of Los Angeles through a bike ride around Silverlake’s musical venues and sites. Come out dressed as your fave rock star, hear some great local DJ and BANDS)

Slow Rides

Where are some of the best and most leisurely bicycling routes? Places where speed is definitely not a requirement. A ride, where you’re inspired to promenade about dressed in your pretty, floaty dress (which makes you feel so ultra feminine wearing it!), then stop and settle down …spread out a nice picnic lunch.

So, I’m starting a list. Please feel free to send along any faves you have.

San Francisco

Stow Lake & Strawberry Hill --Golden Gate Park (any day you like)

Car Free Sundays – Golden Gate Park (*note* ‘Lindy in the Park’ dancing on Sundays as well… for all you ‘vintage’ loving girls)

Red Boots -- Earth Day

Fresh from the Farmer's Market and stopping off at Berkeley's Earth Day Festivities.

Pink Helmet Cover -'Jackie O' Inspired

This is a style I'm still working on. I used recycled materials for this one, re-fashioned from a thrift store item. There is a little pocket on the back which you can just sort of make out. I love using recycled fabrics, but alas it does limit you in terms of ever being able to offer the same thing again.

* note*.. Please see me on ETSY

Bicycle Picnic or Cafe Outing & Bicycle Sharing

photo credit/source:Bicing Barcelona

Ever want to organize and invite your girlfriends for a 'bicycle ride & meet'... a way for all of you to go out and enjoy a picnic or a café lunch outing together...? What if not everyone has a bicycle? Here’s a solution to look into; Bicycle Sharing. This way you could get your guest(s) on a bicycle of her own for the day.

Does your community offer a Bicycle Share program? Here are some cities that do, or plan to. This could be a good idea for you too, if you’re planning to travel to one of these places and want to bicycle around while you’re there.

USA

Bike It, You’ll Like It!- Berkeley
Bike-Sharing

Europe
City Bicycle Share Programs

Bicycle Cafes & Restaurants

Here’s a list of places to seek out. They are all Bicycle ‘themed’ and have you....the stylish bicyclist in mind. Please help me add to list and send me your suggestions!

Bay Area
Velo Rouge Cafe
Mojo Bicycle Cafe
Chef Landria

Portland, OR
The Little Red Bike Café


***** Update:
Since first trailblazing with this 'Bicycle Cafes & Restaurants' category others have come after me with far greater diligence. I dropped the ball ball but look who has taken up the cause and sallied forth:

Bikes and the City (primarily coffee cafes in San Francisco, online since March 2008)
Coffee Cycle Chic ( coffee cafe listings' hub, online since January 2008)

Pretty Bicycle Pin-ups #2

photo source: cicle.org

These lovelies are the Ditty Bops.

CheeseCake Bicycle Pin-up

image credit:fixedgear

Just for fun...I love 'old timey' pinups so I hope you appreciate this one. Love the floaty dress.

BIKE Chic FASHION SHOW!

17 MAY 2008
BIKE Chic FASHION SHOW!

at One Colorado

During the Bike Week Pasadena Commuter Bicycle Expo Look for fashions from cycling's top designers, as well as a good mix of everyday fashions suitable for the bike~ and of course the bike to go with it!

Weekend Shopping - Berkeley

Hearts on her t-shirt, plus handle bar streamers that shimmered and shone... just like she did. She was out and about, just a little shopping.

Bikes For The World

Picture from Nyariga, Ghana showing a recipient of a bicycle.

Bikes for the World Courtesy of the Shape Lives Foundation

John Varvatos - Bicycle Chic & Cheap Trick

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch

The new John Varvatos campaign with Cheap Trick. Bicycles are vintage and 70's era ...I think.

Styled Out Bicycle

I waited around for awhile looking for the rider. I can only imagine....sigh

Look who loves to bicycle…

While I’m not a huge celebrity gawker, I love it that celebrities do help to raise awareness, and can possibly inspire us…. get us out of our cars and out bicycling.

Ladies who decide to park the car and bicycle instead.

Gisele Bundchen -“I go every day to work on my bike,” Ms. Bundchen told the Daily News a couple of years ago. “It’s faster than a car, and cheaper.”

Jerry Hall- “I ride a... bicycle or take taxis. My bicycle has an old-fashioned leather seat and basket; there are fantastic circuits in Richmond Park, which I use.”

See if you can pick out Chloe, Kate (H), Elle, Angelina, Giselle, Jennifer (G), Madonna (2 pics). And then there is Daryl Hannah, who is really working it strongly for Bicycle Advocacy.

* photo source/credit given if you want them and leave me a comment.

Discover It!... My List of Bicycle Chic Products Galore! …StyleHive

A lot of people don’t get the StyleHive feature button I’ve placed on this blog. “What’s it for?” I get asked.

Let me count the ways! If you are looking for just about anything bicycle (chic) related, you’ve just got to check it out. I’ve listed so many categories (I blogged this before in a prior post), but really take my word and check it out!

If you ‘follow me’ in the hive you’ll get wind of new listings…wonderful things! Now you can so easily find ‘bicycle chic’ all in one place. Receive new listing updates from me at Stylehive if you want by requesting it. Or just check back here on this blog and I will keep you informed too.

Another oft asked question I get is;” Why do you bother to do it?” IT’S FOR YOU. A GIFT. I myself, want to feel really smashing, stylish, cute, (and a zillion more adjectives) when I bicycle. I’m sharing with you my favorite finds.

Then comes this amusing little question/observation; “What, you don’t get anything for doing it? Followed by…”You should make a little extra on the side…..”

So let me know/email me. For now it’s a labor of love, one I really do love to do!!

She Stopped to Smell the Jasmine…

(Otherwise I would never have caught up to her)!
And then off again and on her way to Oakland’s Art Murmur.

DKNY does Bicycle Chic ....

photos: DKNY

DNKY has a new promotional campaign “Explore Your City”.

Be Safe: Super Models, and You the 1st Time Nervous Rider….

There are lots of classes offered out there to learn / improve your Bicycle Riding Skills. Ditto for a little Bicycle Road Etiquette.

Ready for really compelling reasons to improve your skills as a rider? Please read the SF Gate article:

"Bicyclist blamed twice as often as drivers"

'Bicyclists were twice as likely as drivers to be at fault in the nearly 2,000 collisions that killed or severely injured Bay Area bike riders in the past decade, an analysis by The Chronicle shows.’

Smart Solution: Bicycle Safety Classes in the Bay Area

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

The East Bay Bicycle Coalition

The Marin Bicycle Coalition

SFMTA- San Francisco's Bicycle Program

511. Org Bicycle Safety Classes

The Presidio YMCA Bike Smart, Ride Safe

Super Models on Bicycles OR ‘Don’t Hate Me ‘Cause I’m Beautiful’ (as she rides on the wrong side of the street)!

You’ve got to read the whole article in The New York Observer.

‘Meet the beautiful bicycle girls of New York, a breed that bears little resemblance to the hard-charging, Spandex-short-wearing species of 20 years ago. Those women were athletes, pumping the pedals, fighting to win. Getting somewhere. Today’s girls—and one always thinks of them as girls, even if they’re well into their 40’s—are more meandering, their long legs flashing along the pot-holed alleys of SoHo and the boutique-lined bike lanes of the West Village. Eco-conscious and ethereal, they wear flowing frocks and gigantic sunglasses but never helmets. Their hair flutters in the breeze as they leave a trail of swooning male pedestrians in their perfumed wake. They’ve been known to weave up the Brooklyn Bridge, holding up traffic as they absent-mindedly chomp on almonds, steering through a stop sign while texting on their BlackBerries.’

After which, especially read the response banter that this article generated... outstanding and from all points of view.

Afraid of Traffic and Cars?.... most women are!

‘The number one reason that women don't ride bikes is... CARS! Not that cars are so much easier, but rather, women said they don't feel safe sharing the road with them. A full 80% of respondents didn't, according to our recently completed Low-Income Women and Bicycling Survey Project. Also, 63% said they would consider riding a bicycle if there were bike lanes in their neighborhood.'

“Why Aren’t Women On Wheels?”

CARS…This was my excuse for the longest time. It took a lot of desire on my part to get over it (the fear). I did. Now I can’t encourage women enough to ask themselves just what is it that keeps them from riding a bicycle more often?

Pretty Red Hair

A flash of inspiration. Noontime in Downtown Berkeley.

Pimped Out Bike

photo credit: Funny Pictures

Just had to Share!